Regionale 13 - No man is an island
25 Nov 2012 - 07 Jan 2013
REGIONALE 13 - NO MAN IS AN ISLAND
Curated by Sabine Schaschl and Martina Siegwolf
25 November 2012 — 7 January 2013
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were. Any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. (John Donne, Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions: Meditation XVII., 1624, quoted from “The Works of John Donne”, vol III, Henry Alford (Ed.), John W. Parker: London, 1839, p. 574-5)
“No man is an island” - this much quoted phrase of the English poet John Donne serves as a starting point for this year’s Regionale at Kunsthaus Baselland focusing on works by young artists from the region. Sabine Schaschl, director and curator, developed and curated the concept and the implementation of the exhibition along with art historian, educator and lecturer, Martina Siegwolf. Siegwolf is familiar with the Regionale since its inception and was also involved in the first Regionale.
This year Sabine Schaschl and Martina Siegwolf invited more than a dozen artists from the Basel region, supplemented by some artists’ items which have been selected from the submitted dossiers.
Among the most famous citations of “no man is an island” in popular culture are the books of the same title by Johannes Mario Simmel and Thomas Merton. Donne describes how each person is part of a whole and compares the washing away of a clod of earth with the loss of a person. Based on this early network concept, the exhibition at the Kunsthaus Baselland deals with the question how a young generation of artists work while they are involved in a ubiquitous communication and exchange structure in the age of social media and global networks. Basically, one can conform to this structure by becoming part of the network itself, or one can escape the ubiquity of communication by withdrawing to one’s “private island”. But even the latter is shaped by the entrainment of a so-called network in spirit.
The exhibition brings together artistic positions, whose work methods are characterised by direct or indirect collaborations or were simply created in a free exchange with fellow artists. The artist Clare Kenny, for example, frequently does curatorial work and compares this activity with the production of “new material” that she then uses in her artistic work. In collaboration with art historian Franziska Glozer, the artist Sarah Bernauer conceived the large-scale media project, “A Word for Play” for the Regionale, a language play in 5 acts, which in turn is linked with the Regionale partners FABRIKculture, Hegenheim and LA KUNSTHALLE, Mulhouse. Lorenza Diaz, who studied in Basel and now lives in Leipzig, conceived and implemented exhibitions in and around Leipzig with seven other artists. Bianca Hildenbrand, who, among other things, co-supervises the artist-run space “deux pieces” in Basel took a three-day discussion session between artists from among the Abstract Expressionists as a starting point and created a new version of it in her audio installation. Just like her, artists, particularly of a younger generation, draw on historical avant-gardes and art historical models, which then find an echo in their own works.
In terms of a current network-like working methods of artists and curators, curator Sophie Kauffenstein from Strasbourg was also invited to select some video works of French artists. A further networking also takes place, insofar as Martina Siegwolf also developed an education project with students at the HGK, Institute for Teaching Professions in Design and Arts.
No one and everyone is an island should be the conclusion then: the artistic work today (and not just that) needs both – the exchange with the global island and retreat to one’s own island. The exhibition at Kunsthaus Baselland demonstrates this quite clearly.
Curated by Sabine Schaschl and Martina Siegwolf
25 November 2012 — 7 January 2013
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were. Any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. (John Donne, Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions: Meditation XVII., 1624, quoted from “The Works of John Donne”, vol III, Henry Alford (Ed.), John W. Parker: London, 1839, p. 574-5)
“No man is an island” - this much quoted phrase of the English poet John Donne serves as a starting point for this year’s Regionale at Kunsthaus Baselland focusing on works by young artists from the region. Sabine Schaschl, director and curator, developed and curated the concept and the implementation of the exhibition along with art historian, educator and lecturer, Martina Siegwolf. Siegwolf is familiar with the Regionale since its inception and was also involved in the first Regionale.
This year Sabine Schaschl and Martina Siegwolf invited more than a dozen artists from the Basel region, supplemented by some artists’ items which have been selected from the submitted dossiers.
Among the most famous citations of “no man is an island” in popular culture are the books of the same title by Johannes Mario Simmel and Thomas Merton. Donne describes how each person is part of a whole and compares the washing away of a clod of earth with the loss of a person. Based on this early network concept, the exhibition at the Kunsthaus Baselland deals with the question how a young generation of artists work while they are involved in a ubiquitous communication and exchange structure in the age of social media and global networks. Basically, one can conform to this structure by becoming part of the network itself, or one can escape the ubiquity of communication by withdrawing to one’s “private island”. But even the latter is shaped by the entrainment of a so-called network in spirit.
The exhibition brings together artistic positions, whose work methods are characterised by direct or indirect collaborations or were simply created in a free exchange with fellow artists. The artist Clare Kenny, for example, frequently does curatorial work and compares this activity with the production of “new material” that she then uses in her artistic work. In collaboration with art historian Franziska Glozer, the artist Sarah Bernauer conceived the large-scale media project, “A Word for Play” for the Regionale, a language play in 5 acts, which in turn is linked with the Regionale partners FABRIKculture, Hegenheim and LA KUNSTHALLE, Mulhouse. Lorenza Diaz, who studied in Basel and now lives in Leipzig, conceived and implemented exhibitions in and around Leipzig with seven other artists. Bianca Hildenbrand, who, among other things, co-supervises the artist-run space “deux pieces” in Basel took a three-day discussion session between artists from among the Abstract Expressionists as a starting point and created a new version of it in her audio installation. Just like her, artists, particularly of a younger generation, draw on historical avant-gardes and art historical models, which then find an echo in their own works.
In terms of a current network-like working methods of artists and curators, curator Sophie Kauffenstein from Strasbourg was also invited to select some video works of French artists. A further networking also takes place, insofar as Martina Siegwolf also developed an education project with students at the HGK, Institute for Teaching Professions in Design and Arts.
No one and everyone is an island should be the conclusion then: the artistic work today (and not just that) needs both – the exchange with the global island and retreat to one’s own island. The exhibition at Kunsthaus Baselland demonstrates this quite clearly.